Technological Assault : Target OZ
by Winter Cheshire
Summary: Once again OZ is under attack... but this time it's not by some AI that wants nothing but information... This AI is actually looking for something, and since no one seems to know where it is, the AI will do anything he must to find it. Kazuma X OC
1. Prologue

_Location Unknown: Research Lab_

The blinking lights… the flashing warning signs… the scientists were all in a panic. The security protocol system kept repeating itself. "Experiment B454R4 is Unstable. Please evacuate the building to avoid bodily injury… Experiment B454R4 is Unstable. Please evacuate the building to avoid bodily injury." it stated in a drone-like voice. Data flew by on the computer screens as the technicians tried to shut down the data being transferred into their experiment, but it was no use. The systems were cracking apart like shattering glass faster than any of them could repair… There was no stopping it…

_Meanwhile_

_Japan: Ryugazaki House_

Alone in a dark room sat a young woman, at her computer. She was typing away, the tick-a-tack of her keys all that could be heard throughout the silent home. 'Bad things keep happening…' her thoughts flowed through her mind as she continued to work. 'First the loss of my family… and then HE ran away…' she watched the screen with a serious expression. 'I just wish I could have lived a normal life, but… then again, I never did like being a normal person…'

_OZ: Fight Arena; Mini-Melee Tournament_

Within the tournaments in OZ, the current top-watched fight was between one female avatar with long blue hair and a bandaged eye, and a bunch of punks who thought it would be fun to beat up on the girl. Well… they were now being blown back by her attacks, being watched by that calculating stare. They stood no chance to begin with…

"Triple K.O.! Wrath wins!" the automated response stated.

_Ryugazaki House_

"It's so boring being normal… ne~? Wrath~?" the girl at her computer chuckled.


	2. Chapter 1: King Kazma VS Wrath

_Ueda, Japan: Jinnouchi House: _

There was a challenge on Kazuma's OZ screen when he logged on for the day. "WRATH wishes to challenge you. Do you accept?" read the message. The teen stared at his screen for a moment. Where had he seen that name recently? He pulled up another screen to search the user name, and sure enough there she was. He'd seen that fight earlier in the week, as well as having seen the amount of a stir this female avatar was causing. Her record was very impressive, no losses as of yet, but her fight record only went back about 16 days… and yet she'd managed to make it into the top 200 players. At first he thought she might be a hacker, or maybe even an AI. But he'd received a strange message earlier in the week from an avatar named TSUBASA.

"Please, I know it's strange as a request, but if an avatar by the name of WRATH challenges you, please accept it. She really needs this."

Kazuma didn't understand it, but he seemed somehow drawn to the thought of challenging this person, whoever they were. He looked at the clock, and then went back to the challenge window. He moved his mouse and clicked, the message changing to "You have accepted WRATH's Challenge." The teen reached for his juice and took a sip. 'Let's hope she's a good fighter…' he thought as he stared at the screen.

_Ryugazaki House: _

Tsubasa stood at his sister's door, not moving for over 10 minutes now. "Ayumi, come on…" he stated. "You can't sulk in there forever." he called. The girl, Ayumi, sat on her bed, next to her computer and on the OZ login screen. "Ayumi, please-"

"Leave me alone, Tsubasa…" her voice came through the door. She sounded distraught, but more so she sounded annoyed with him. "I told you I will NOT go against King Kazma. I'm not nearly ready…" she stared at the floor, her long bangs hanging in her face. Tsubasa looked at his phone and smiled.

"But Ayumi… I already sent the challenge~" he said cheerfully. "And King Kazma just accepted it." he leaned back against the wall next to her door, smiling contently to himself.

"…. YOU WHAT?" she exclaimed after a long silence, her face bright red and her cerulean blue eyes wide. "Ts-ts-tsubasa, why?" she questioned, both panicked and annoyed now. Tsubasa just chuckled, his platinum blonde hair seeming to shimmer as he turned to her door and opened it.

"Because, dearest sister, you need to stop thinking about why Basara-niisan left, and start thinking about how to get him back." he smiled at her, standing in the doorway. But as he was smiling away, a pillow flew at his face and knocked him back a little.

"YOU FOOL!" she exclaimed, now embarrassed. There were practically billows of steam fuming from her head, her face looking like a cooked lobster. She got up and closed her door, Tsubasa still standing there with her pillow and still smiling. Ayumi stared at her computer for a good long time before she sat back in front of it and logged back onto OZ. 'Tsubasa… thank you…' she thought, still trying to keep herself from hyperventilating. 'I know you're right… Basara needs saving, so that's what I have to focus on…' she saw the accepted challenge window and silently cursed at Tsubasa for hacking her account again, but she just went with it. She didn't want to think about life without Tsubasa… life without Basara was hard enough. But she smiled as she checked over Wrath's stats and checked them against King Kazma's. "Hah… I'm nowhere near ready."

_OZ Arena: _

King Kazma was standing in the arena, waiting for his challenger to arrive. He was just starting to think she wouldn't show up when he noticed the messages popping up on the public chat.

"Go home, girl!"

"You'll never beat Kazma!"

"You're just a newbie with a lot of luck, get out of here!"

"You're all annoying." Wrath's message bubble popped up. "I'm not challenging him for his title so why don't you all just sit back and watch?" Wrath's long blue hair flowed behind her as she made it to the arena, seeing King Kazma. "Thank you for coming here on such short notice, King Kazma." was her message to the reigning King of OZ's Martial Arts tournament.

"No problem." was his response as the countdown to the beginning of the match appeared above them both.

5.…4.…3.…2.…1.… BEGIN!

The match ended rather fast, about 4 minutes after it started. But King Kazma and Wrath had both taken considerable battle damage before King Kazma managed to KO Wrath. Tsubasa's avatar walked onto the stage and helped Wrath away, giving his silent thanks to King Kazma in the form of a nod.

_Jinnouchi House:_

"That was good." Kazuma said, looking at his screen. "She's definitely a good fighter…" he said, a small smile gracing his features. "I wonder what that avatar's creator is like…?" he asked absent-mindedly, taking another sip of his juice.


	3. Chapter 2: Welcome to the Jinnouchi Home

_Ueda, Japan: Ueda Station: _

"Remind me why you brought me here?" Kazuma asked Natsuki and Kenji (who decided to come along for who knows what reason) as they waited at the train station. He was on his computer, sitting on a bench while his cousin and Kenji were standing nearby.

"I told you, we're here to help out a friend." Natsuki pouted a little, checking her phone again. "She should be here soon."

"You said that half an hour ago." He mumbled, checking his OZ messages.

"Don't complain." Natsuki scolded as she closed her phone. "You'll like her, she works well with computers and she's really cute~" she grinned, her cousin just shaking his head at her before looking back at his screen. "Oh come on, Kazuma!" Natsuki complained. "You've been single for an eternity, at least take some interest in girls. You should have a girlfriend at some point, right?"

"This girl is your age, why should I be interested in her?" Kazuma questioned, tacking away at his keyboard. There was no way that one of Natsuki's friends could be of interest to him… she was either going to be a stuck up nerd, or someone who would get along better with Kenji than himself. Kazuma yawned, seeing as he had been up the previous night partaking in the realm of OZ. He made sure his headphones didn't slip off. He was mildly curious of this person that they would be bringing home, but he wasn't about to admit that.

"Geez…" Natsuki sighed at him, but as soon as she train arrived, she headed over towards the platform to search for Ayumi. Kazuma and Kenji waited for her where they were, since Natsuki was the only one who knew the girl.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Ayumi was de-boarding the train, managing to get to a pillar and stop to rest. She hated being around so many people at once, it was not something she appreciated. She just wanted to sleep, truthfully, but the fact that she was going to be staying at the Jinnouchi house with her parents' acquaintances and their family was... rather exciting. She hadn't been around a large family group for quite some time. She looked at her phone, her earphones playing a recent hit song she'd found on OZ and just waited for the people who were supposed to meet her.<p>

As Natsuki looked around, she finally noticed a girl with shoulder-length layered black hair and blue eyes, staring at her phone like she was in a trance. She had glasses on, and was wearing a casual grey sweater, a black pair of shorts, and black thigh highs with grey and white canvas shoes. She had earphones on and looked like she was catching her breath. She went over to her and tapped her shoulder. "Ayumi-san?"

"Ah, good afternoon~" Ayumi said, removing her earphones and bowing to Natsuki. "You must be Natsuki-san. It's been quite a long time, hasn't it? " she said. Her speech was very polite, and her motions were very fluid.

"Yeah, really long time~" Natsuki smiled. "Do you need a minute?" Natsuki offered, smiling at her. Ayumi shook her head and picked up her things.

"I'm alright~ Shall we head out?"

"Of course~" Natsuki nodded, leading the girl back to where Kazuma and Kenji were.

* * *

><p>Kazuma stifled a yawn the best he could as he used the knuckle of his middle finger to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He blinked and looked at the girls as they were coming back. The one in glasses was wearing a somewhat different outfit than he would have expected, since Natsuki was wearing a tank top and sandals. Kenji walked over and said hello, Ayumi introducing herself politely. Then Natsuki lead the girl to Kazuma.<p>

"Nice to meet you, Kazuma-kun~" she said, bowing her head to Kazuma. "I apologize for Natsuki dragging you out to meet me." She added.

Kazuma gave a small bow out of politeness. "Nice to meet you as well..." At her comment, he shook his head out of reflex. "It's fine…" he glanced at her bag, noting a couple of small charms and an OZ keychain. "You really like OZ, huh?"

"Yes, well~" Ayumi smiled. "I grew up with OZ as a big part of my childhood…" she seemed incredibly nervous about talking to him, it was kind of weird. But Natsuki soon intervened and dragged Ayumi off, leaving Kenji to carry the girl's bags despite Ayumi insisting that she could do so herself.

* * *

><p><em>Ueda, Japan: Jinnouchi House: <em>

Once back at the house, Ayumi was lead to the room she'd be staying in. As far as everyone knew Ayumi was there because she lived alone and her parents had been confirmed dead just recently. She was basically being taken in so she had people to lean on. However, Kazuma knew from the second that he saw her that wasn't the only thing. She seemed to know from long before that her parents were deceased, but something else was bothering her. "So what is it exactly?"

"E-eh?" She turned to him as he asked her the question, seeing as they were in her temporary room as she set up her computer.

"Why are you so finicky?" he questioned. He didn't get why he was there, or why he was asking her these questions… but there was something about Ayumi that made Kazuma want to actually be somewhat sociable, even if just a little.

"A-am I? I'm sorry." She smiled a little nervously, bowing her head to him. "It's… complicated, is all…" she looked back to her computer, powering it on and waiting for it to load. "My family's all in chaos… and there's some trouble going on within my immediate family so…"

"… Right, sorry." Kazuma muttered, feeling now like he should retreat back to his room. But he couldn't seem to get the will to get up and leave Ayumi alone right now. There was a long silence, and neither one seemed to know what to say. Ayumi's computer pinged and she turned back to it almost immediately, logging in quickly and checking something, looking a little bothered.

"Still nothing…" she muttered to herself, but since it was so quiet Kazuma heard her.

"Ayumi!" Natsuki suddenly burst into the room. "Give Kenji your number, please!"

"H-huh?" Ayumi blinked. "Ah, okay…" she nodded, taking down Kenji's number and sending hers to him via mail.

"You might as well give your number to Kazuma too." Natsuki added.

"U-um… okay…?" Ayumi looked highly confused, but she nodded and looked to Kazuma. "Sh-shall I send it or…?"

"If you want." He mumbled, going over to her to give her his number when he noticed her avatar on screen. He stared for a second, then looked at Ayumi. "You're… Wrath?"

"Eh?" Ayumi blinked. "Y-yes, I am…" she nodded.

"Then you already have my number." He stated, suddenly looking a little flustered, getting up and going into his room and closing the door.

"Oi, Kazuma! Don't be rude!" Natsuki exclaimed, going after her cousin. Soon, Kenji arrived in the hall, talking with Natsuki about why she was being so loud. But Kazuma refused to come out of his room. Ayumi looked concerned, wondering what she should do or if she'd done something to upset Kazuma when a message came through from OZ. She checked it and paused, noticing it was from King Kazma. She looked at the hall again, and then back at her screen, opening the mail.

"Sorry… It's easier if we talk this way…" it read simply with no signature. Ayumi paused, eyes widening when she made the realization. Kazuma was THE King of OZ. She sighed, smiling.

"So that's why Tsubasa sent me here…" she mumbled, getting up and going to Kazuma's door. "Thank you, Kazuma-kun…" she said simply before turning to Natsuki and Kenji, shooing them away from the door and telling them it was fine. She then went back into her room, messaging Kazuma for a while until they were called out to dinner. Mariko, the current head of the house, was very adamant about Kazuma being at the table since she said he was never there. Natsuki introduced everyone for Ayumi, the girl looking a little bewildered but still smiling after and thanking the family for housing her. But as they began eating, a conversation started between some of the women of the house.

"So, she's Natsuki's age?"

"Yes, but she's computer savvy. Her parents were both OZ programmers." Another whispered so as to keep Ayumi from hearing.

"She's pretty cute… I bet Kazuma likes her." One grinned, earning nods from the others at the table. They all looked across the table to where Ayumi and Kazuma were sitting next to each other, neither one talking much but sitting next to one another very naturally. Every now and again, Kazuma glanced over at Ayumi and asked her if she wanted anything, the girl smiling and nodding, Kazuma serving it to her.

"Ah, he might. He's actually serving her food and stuff…"

"It's so strange to see him being so sociable… and to a girl no less."

"Yes it is…" they all nodded again. But this time when they looked at them, Ayumi was looking at them. They all froze.

"Is something the matter?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side with a small smile.

"No no…" they all shook their heads and went back to eating. It was strange, but she had this air of power about her… much like how their previous head of household did. Ayumi went back to eating, Kazuma seeming like he'd taken no notice of his family's gossiping.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, after dishes had been done and baths had been taken, Ayumi was sitting in her room on her computer again. Tsubasa messaged her and let her know that Basara had come online, the girl anxious to get in contact with him. She sat with her headphones on, tacking away at her keys furiously, not even noticing the door open behind her. Kazuma walked in and sat next to her, tapping her shoulder once he was sure she wasn't busy, causing her to jump and turn to him. "Y-yes?"<p>

"Explain it to me."

"P-pardon?"

"Explain to me what's going on in OZ…" he pulled up the article and pointed to it, staring at Ayumi. "And explain why you're trying to climb the ranks so fast." Ayumi paused for a minute, soon sighing and looking up at Kazuma again.

"That black-clad AI that everyone is talking about… is my brother." She stated simply. Kazuma blinked, but did not speak. "He was developed along-side his twin, Tsubasa, to regulate certain OZ systems that were never put in place due to my parents passing away." She added. "But… more than just a regulation system… he's an artificial intelligence that my parents used to help raise me… he's always been there for me… both of them have…" she closed her eyes, composing herself for a moment before continuing. "He went missing a while back… I have to get him back, no matter the cost." She stated.

"Your parents developed him to help raise you…?"

"Yes, they each have a physical body in the real world, as well as a virtual one in OZ." Ayumi stated. "The bodies were developed by my mother, since she was too ill to have children at the time when she wanted them most…" she smiled a little weakly. "And then I came along a few years after."

"So basically they're androids?"

"Something like that~" Ayumi nodded her head. "Though they never liked being called something so generic~ They prefer just being addressed by their given names~"

"… I see." Kazuma nodded, trying to take in that information. "So… did he go rogue, or…?"

"No." She stated immediately after hearing that statement. "Basara would never… not willingly… he wouldn't leave the house without telling Tsubasa." She looked up at Kazuma, eyes moist with tears threatening to fall. "My brother wouldn't leave without telling us…" Kazuma flinched, not expecting her to begin crying so easily. He didn't know how to deal with it. But Ayumi bit her inner cheek and wiped her tears with her long sleeves. "S-sorry…" she stated. "It's been difficult… I guess the stress is starting to get to me…"

"… don't worry about it." Kazuma shook his head. "Just… ask if you need anything." He mumbled, scooting a little closer and patting her head like he might the dog. A moment later he realized what he was doing, pulling his hand away and apologizing in a whisper before getting up and going back to his room, hiding his blush as much as possible.

* * *

><p>((Hope you like it so far~ ; u ; Sorry its so lame...<p>

Next time I'll hopefully be able to get in some OZ time, so please look forward to it!

- Winter Cheshire))


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